Best Racing Games Like Excitebike

The best racing games like Excitebike are Trials Rising, Excitebike 64 and Joe Danger. Below are 8, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to racing costs you.

Why Racing Is a Good Answer for Excitebike

Filtering to racing means you want the vehicle to be the subject. It is the right filter when what you liked was speed, or handling, or a road worth driving.

What you get: A short session that is complete in itself. A race is over in five minutes and you can always take the corner better.

What made Excitebike worth playing in the first place is covered on the full list. This page is the racing part of that answer, and only the racing part.

8 Racing Games Like Excitebike

  1. 1. Trials Rising

    The direct descendant — physics, angles, and short punishing runs.

  2. 2. Excitebike 64

    The 3D sequel, and better than it is remembered.

  3. 3. Joe Danger

    Side-on stunt racing built to be cheerful about failure.

  4. 4. Descenders

    Downhill physics racing that is all about flow.

  5. 5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

    If it was the track editor and the four-player chaos you wanted.

  6. 6. Road Rash

    Bikes with the arcade attitude turned up.

  7. 7. Elasto Mania

    Pure physics-bike puzzling, and famously hard.

  8. 8. Lonely Mountains: Downhill

    Quiet, precise downhill riding with no opponents.

What This Filter Leaves Out

Everything outside the vehicle. Racing games rarely have a story, and the ones that try usually should not have.

Specifically, these are strong answers for Excitebike that are not racing games, so they are not on this page:

  • Pilotwings — Nintendo's other physics-first, feel-driven sports game.

The full list is on games like Excitebike — 9 picks, no genre filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best racing game like Excitebike?

Trials Rising. The direct descendant — physics, angles, and short punishing runs.

Are all of these on the Nintendo Entertainment System?

No. Excitebike released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, but a recommendation is only useful if you can play it, so the picks above span platforms and eras. What they share is the genre and the reason.

Arcade or simulation?

Simulation models tyre temperature, fuel and weight transfer and punishes you for ignoring them. Arcade gives you grip, boost and a rewind, and is about flow. Buying the wrong one is where most disappointment comes from.

Do I need a wheel?

For the simulation picks it changes the game completely. For anything arcade it makes almost no difference.

How are these chosen?

By hand. Each pick was written for the full Excitebike list first, on what the game actually does, and this page is the part of that list that is racing — never a genre tag lookup, which is how "best racing games like Super Mario 64" used to be a page on this site.

Other Angles on Excitebike

More Racing Games Recommendations

Or read the racing guide for where to start in the genre generally.